as far as friends go

chapter 31

4 years later

"Finnegan Christopher Hudson, get your ass down here right now!" Rachel screamed from the foot of the steps. She was in a relatively great mood when she first stepped into her home after a long day at work on this beautiful fall Friday; that was until she saw her living room.

"What's all the fuss about?" he asked, hopping down each step as he looked at her.

"All the fuss is that my 4 year old son looks like a chocolate bar by all of the mud he is covered in." He began to speak, but she cut him off.

"And before you say 'he can have a bath, it's no big deal', my living room looks like the aftermath of a bowl of chocolate ice cream." She exclaimed, trying to wipe off a bit of mud away from her son's forehead.

"Daddy and I made mud cakes," the four year old began. "Do you want one mommy?"

"I-" she was going to keep her current aggravated tone, but once she saw the small little boy offering her a pile of mud that he'd stuck to the floor in a corner by the kitchen, she realized how cute he was. He was her little mess and pain in the butt; that applied for Finn as well. Dropping her serious face, a wide grin flashed on Finn at first and made its way to the little brunette who looked exactly like Finn.

"You know, I don't think I ate lunch at work today and i do seem pretty hungry right now…" she turned to Finn "Are they good?"

"Totally. We've got ourselves a naturally born chef, Rach." He replied.

"Well, if that's true, I guess I better try it out for myself." She smiled, taking the little clump of mud in her hands. Bringing it as close to her mouth as she would allow, she pretended to take a bite and started chewing.

"Wow, you better start working on your recipes, little munchkin." She chuckled as she watched Finn retrieve Aiden from the ground and hold him in his arms.

"Thanks mommy, I knew you would like it." He said, as Finn took him upstairs to give him a bath.

"Finally" she thought to herself before she turned to the big mess that awaited her mop. It was Halloween and she told Finn this morning that her PTA meeting would run a little late and that by the time she would get home she'd wanted Aiden to be all dressed up and ready to go.

Carol and Burt were coming over to take Aiden trick-or-treating since all of the New York gang was down for the weekend and they were all attending a Halloween party of their own. She couldn't wait to see everyone and get to be reunited with her long-lost friends. She could also tell that Finn was just as thrilled to see Puck and Sam.

The only thing that bothered her was the fact that she'd be missing out on a year of Aiden's trick-or-treating experiences. She knew she wouldn't be missing his first time, but there was a weight in her heart that almost felt like guilt. She felt that she was being a little selfish to her son; abandoning him for her own needs to party and see her friends.

With that being said, Rachel had already instructed Burt and Carol to take as many pictures as their cameras would allow. She also asked them to give her hourly updates on how everything was going for him. She could already tell by the look on his face when she got home, even if it was covered with patches of mud.

Interrupting her thoughts, a knock of the front door took her by surprise. Checking the peep hole, she found Burt and Carol standing at the front door with a little bag of candy. She immediately knew that Aiden would be a happy camper. Turning the knob, she greeted her in-laws with warm hugs and welcoming smiles. Asking them to come in, Carol went into the kitchen to place everything on the counter while Rachel guided Burt to the living room to help him work their TV. Or, as Burt said, "Operate the foreign alien device". Since their TV was so big, Burt was amazed by the comparison to his small box set that they've had their whole lives.